


A Walk in the Junk Piles

by unendingexhaustion



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crystal Gems, F/F, only very light femslash sorry, pearlmethyst - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 01:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6174619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unendingexhaustion/pseuds/unendingexhaustion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gem door breaks, and Pearl's room can no longer be accessed. Cue Amethyst, whose room is connected to Pearl's via waterfall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Walk in the Junk Piles

**Author's Note:**

> For anon over at tumblr. Also my first official fic!

Pearl warped into the house in a flash of blue light, and the first thing she noticed was the mess. Smoking holes in the floor and walls, roof half collapsed, furniture broken and overturned...and Amethyst standing in front of the gem door looking as if she was trying very hard to appear casual.

“Amethyst! What did you do?” Pearl shrieked.

“Nothing.” Garnet entered through the smoking remains of the front door with a truly huge bubbled gem bobbing behind her. “We had a bit of a run-in with a powerful gem monster. It wrecked the house.”

Amethyst scratched the back of her neck nervously. “Yeah, uhh, the door’s kinda broken too.” She stepped aside to show a massive crack running directly through Pearl’s connection and smiled sheepishly. “I was thinkin’ maybe we could access your room through mine? Like if your junk can fall down, you could get back up.”

Pearl mentally calculated the time it would take to repair the door without access to her materials, and found the wait less appealing than a trip through the junkyard Amethyst called a room. “Alright,” she said, bracing herself for the chaos, “let’s do it.”

Amethyst grinned, activated her connection, and stepped aside with an exaggerated bow. “After you, P!” She called, and Pearl stepped cautiously through the door. It was nowhere as bad as she’d expected. The piles of junk were less precarious than usual, and there were clear paths between each one. She turned to look at Amethyst in surprise, and found the other gem practically radiating pride. “Do you like it? I cleaned!”

Pearl looked back with wide eyes. “Did you do this for me?” Amethyst looked at the ground, blushing. “Well now you can’t bug me about the mess, huh? Anyways,” she shifted and grabbed Pearl’s hand with a smile, “let’s go find your room, P!”

They set off through the maze of junk, and Pearl found herself asking more and more questions about the things she saw, much to Amethyst’s delight. Her bright enthusiasm set off a soft warmth in Pearl’s chest, and she gladly followed the tug of Amethyst’s hand in hers as they wandered through the room, following the sound of falling water.

She pointed out Mesopotamian clay tablets, crystal weapons scavenged from battlefields, ancient chests filled with gleaming treasure, and Amethyst happily explained where she had gotten each of them and stories of the people that had produced each artifact. Pearl quickly found her thoughts of getting to her room replaced with wonder at Amethyst’s vast wealth of knowledge, so very different from her own. Pearl didn’t particularly like humans and had concerned herself with gem affairs, but Amethyst had gotten out there. She’d made friends and enemies and witnessed human history form around her and rejoiced in the sheer cluttery life that humans brought, and now Pearl was entranced by what she’d missed while holed up in the base for these centuries upon end.

Amethyst was practically glowing with happiness, waving her arms while telling the story of how she’d gotten a particularly interesting set of early photographs, when a bright glint caught Pearl’s eye. It was a statue, cast in gold, long-limbed and tall and with a large pearl set into its forehead. Pearl picked it up and turned to Amethyst.

“How did you get this?” She asked softly. Amethyst stopped, eyes closing against the soft gloom of the cavern.

“There’s one of each of us, you know. Even Rose Quartz. The humans thought we were goddesses for a while, but Rose wasn’t too happy about that. She asked me to steal them, so I did.” Pearl’s mind froze. She hadn’t even known that had happened! All of a sudden, regret washed over her like a wave. How much had she missed? All those fleeting lives had briefly gathered together for her, a Pearl of all things, and she had ignored it! Her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. The room had taken on a different quality, the air heavy with the lives of thousands. Everything in this room told a story, from something as mundane as yesterday’s taco special to wars fought in the name of ancient kings, and she had dismissed it all for centuries. Amethyst silently pulled her into a hug as she wept, and they stood together for a few seconds that seemed to last an eternity.

Once the moment broke, the two gems returned to the search for an entrance to Pearl’s room without saying a single word.Finally, they stood before a great pool of water, filled by a waterfall crashing down from the endless fountains of Pearl’s room.

“I guess this is it then,” mumbled Amethyst as Pearl studied the route she would need to climb. She turned to go, but Pearl’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“I just wanted to say thank you.” said Pearl quietly, eyes fixed on the rocky ground.

“No problem, P.” Pearl’s hand was suddenly in hers again, and the taller gem’s cheeks were a light shade of teal.

“Would you mind if I came here again? I’d like to learn more about your collection.”

Amethyst smiled shyly and squeezed Pearl’s hand. “That’d be pretty cool.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Pearl said, and quicker than thought she was bounding away up the walls of the waterfall’s tunnel. Amethyst stood and watched the water for a moment, feeling lighter than she had in a long time.


End file.
